Dawning of Magic
by Goggleplex
Summary: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatsuki actually. discontinued
1. Deadly Protecters

Dawning of Magic

by Goggleplex

Summery: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatauki actually.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter. Nope. Not a thing. I even check out Harry Potter at the library so I don't own any of J.K. Rowling's books either...

A/N: I haven't read any Harry Potter books in awhile so most of this story will...depart from HP canon. Oh and this story isn't exactly 'Harry-centric' since he is a little boring and ordinary for my tastes... Enjoy! Also I have not read Deathly Hollows. But since this story is majorly AU that doesn't really matter much to me...

Warning: This is rated for Hidan's rather colorful language. He curses in this story. Loud and often... Also NO SEX! and NO YAOI will be in this story. They may be old men but they have the bodies of 12 year olds. Relationships MIGHT spawn when they are 'older'...might.

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Chapter One - Deadly Protectors 

Madara was absolutely furious. Not because the Akatsuki had dwindled from ten to a final two (himself and Itachi), Not because is was mostly teenage shinobi from Konoha who had pretty much decimated the Akatsuki and certainly not because the Kyuubi no longer had a desire to be released from its living cage but he was furious because he was being killed by a team of girls!

Madara had more in common with Zetsu than most people in the world had figured. He was a loner, true, but that was because he had the company of his own head with him at all times. But at least Zetsu didn't have a moron for a second half. Tobi was a living example of politeness. Madara was arrogant and filled with pride. Madara always thought of women as inferior, the main reason there had only been ONE girl in the Akatsuki and only at Pein's repeated requests at that. Tobi had never been a sexist and actually admired women fighters. Mandra was a realist who believed all things were explainable by physics and chikara energy. Tobi believed in faith, magic and unicorns.

But the point of it all was Madara did not come as far as he had just to lose to a bunch of Konoha women. It hadn't seemed to bother Sasori much when he lost to his grandma and the pink-haired Konoha medic. But seriously death by pmsing kunochi was not the way he had ever figured he would die. His chikara system was not paralyzed but destroyed by the Hyuuga heiress by some original technique she had created. Several of his bones were shattered beyond repair thanks mostly to hits landed by the Hokage's pink haired apprentice. Two spears and several swords were run through the entire length on his body. Serpents were attacking him one after another and a chikara scalpel had almost entirely severed his foot with the exception of his tendons in the heel. He was also poisoned by a recreation of Sasori's infamous poison, probably developed by the little apprentice herself.

And just as he was about to take his last breath of air there was suddenly nothing. No pain. No sound. No color. But there was a voice speaking to him.

_ Madara...You are about to die...Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki have already killed Itachi making you the last of the Akatsuki. Once you die the Akatsuki will only be remembered on one page in the history of Konoha... are you prepared for the end? _

_"_Who are you? I don't have to answer your moronic questioning, I was happy to be living the life I had."

_ Really? So you'll be happy writhing in agony in the afterlife thanks to all the crimes you committed in your life? _

Madara paused at the thought of such things before he narrowed his eye and sneered, "If you are mentioning my horrible fate do you have an alternative path for me then?"

_ A fate you would have to share with the rest of the Akatsuki. _

"Everyone else is dead remember?" Madara said with a sneer.

_ I can make it otherwise. All I need is your agreement to have the Akatsuki preform a mission for my benefit. _

"What is this 'mission' and why would you need all ten of us?"

_ Eleven. _

"I beg your pardon?"

_ I meant ALL the Akatsuki, meaning everyone who once possessed a red clouded cloak and a ring on a finger. You, Pein, Konan, Itachi, Kisame, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, Sasori, Zetsu and Orochimaru... _

"Orochimaru included, huh? Why would you pick us out of all the shinobi in the world?"

_ The spell I'm using focus's upon a single group of people to compete a task. A four-person team is much to small for the job I have for you and calling forth an entire hidden village would be an overkill. _

"A spell? Magic isn't real you fool."

_ It certainly is real, Mandara, as you will soon learn if you accept this mission. _

"Tell me what the mission is first. Then I might consider your offer."

_ I am the consciousness of a magical place in another land. A school called Hogwarts to be exact. A student will be arriving for the first time this coming autumn and will be needing a lot of support and occasional protection during the course of their destiny. _

"Why the hell would I want to waste my life babysitting some brat?"

_ This so called "brat" is the chosen Holder of All Magic. Only one person every two hundred years has the power this child will be capable of. But as the Holder of All Magic if the child isn't physically, mentally, emotionally and magically prepared for it the Magic could easily be taken by a more prepared Magic User. _

Madara was slightly intrigued by this "Hogwarts's" words, "Describe this 'Magic Holder's' powers for my benefit would you?"

_ Wandless and wordless magic is the tip of the Magic Holder's power. The Magic Holder will have access to all the magic power in the world and will be a sort of avatar if you will. If the Magic Holder had the help they need he or she could conceivably be able to shapeshift, be able to communicate magically, read the minds of other people as though skimming a book, be able to destroy any wards with a mere glance, conjure things that last indefinitely and even be able to control different elements and things. _

'If there had been a member of the Akatsuki who could do all those things we would have been unstoppable!' Madara thought to himself, "You know that I am a very ambitious person, school. Why would you put a child in the risk of my manipulations and in the danger of the Akatsuki's less than sane members if this person is so important?"

_ A necessary risk. If I do nothing a certain manipulator within my walls will raise another in the place of the Magic Holder. If you 'manipulate' the Magic Holder they will come fully into power and at least in that way the magic will stay with its destined holder. Even if you do manage to 'manipulate' the Holder they will be able to simply read your intentions and decide for themselves whether to live for themselves or in a organization, even one such as yours. _

Madara nodded grimly, he could take that risk. The choice for him was either to go back to a humiliating death by women or play a nanny in a new life, "We're going to protect a student? Won't we be a bit obvious in a school? Kisame and Kakuzu are pretty tall after all..."

_ A simple body age reversal shall do the trick. You and the others will retain the power and memories you had up to the point of death but will be returned to the age and appearance you had when you were twelve. _

'To hell with what the others will decide I like this plan.' Madara chuckled and said, "Alright Hogwarts-san, If you give each of us a monthly pay of 1,000 plus the compensation of a place to live and school supplies the Akatsuki will complete this mission."

_ Good. I can't tell you outright who the Magic Holder is because of certain protocols but to help you succeed in your mission I will give you a few very helpful clues. The person will be in your age group. And the House that has an uneven amount of Akatsuki members within it will be where the person is located. Just trust your gut instincts...The others will know of this conversation when you are revived fully though to all except for Pein and Konan it will have been Tobi that decided their fates not Madara...good luck in your mission. _

And with a sudden rush Madara found himself in another location amongst ten other...children... A hand suddenly reached over and whacked him in the head, sending his mask slightly askew, "Tobi you baka! Why did you make that stupid deal for?"

Ah good old Deidara, unexploded and back in angry, violence-prone live action. Madara wasn't very surprised that all the members simply looked like twelve-year-old versions of their older selves, his Tobi persona, excited with the reunion of his 'best friend' overtook him and cried, "But Deidara-sempai, I thought everyone would like a second chance."

"You should have been specific about the thousand you asked for," Kakuzu said shooting him a frosty glare, "For all we know we'll be paid one thousand pennies each a month for who knows how long."

"Oh well what's done is done," Pein said sweeping his gaze over the gathering, "So...who wants to try to take over the world again?"

Orochimaru chuckled out loud and said, "I doubt any of these magicians have ever seen anything like us."

"Hey dip-shits," growled Hidan, "Why don't I feel like I have an overwhelming urge to rip you fucking heads off when I look at you? In the other world I hated all you agnostic assholes."

"I suspect," Itachi said in a cool tone, his ebony eyes like stones, "That the school took away any so called insanity from our minds to make us more rational and more able to stay within a mile of each other unlike our previous...relationship..."

"That sounds about right," Kisame said with a razor sharp grin, "But I still think Kakuzu's a stingy bastard."

"Why am I made of flesh," an unamused voice broke in before Kakuzu could retaliate, it turned out to be Sasori whose young body made him look far more sweet and innocent then he truely was, "It feels grotesque."

"_The school did say that we returned to the bodies we had as twelve year olds. I suppose I should be grateful that I was six when I bonded with my foliage marker..._" A cold voice answered for him and everyone glanced over, surprised to see an entirely ebony skinned Zetsu sitting at the far end of the group.

"Zetsu-san, I thought you were black and white..." Tobi said, voicing everyone else's mental thoughts.

"_I will not gain my other half until I start puberty...again..."_

"Aw, damn-it. That means I have to get my period and breasts all over again." Konan, the blue haired and singly female member of Akatsuki complained out loud, causing the men turned boys to feel slightly embarrassed.

"Shit, I don't want my voice to crack again..." Hidan grumbled.

"I thought it was still cracking when we were still partnered together, Hidan," Kakuzu said with a gleaming smirk.

"Fuck you shithead."

"Now now, gentlemen," Pein said with a wicked smile, "Let's not fight. After all we are young and without limitations to our future with the exception of a little observe and protect mission. Anyone interested on seeing how ruined, corrupt and dumb the people in ths world is?"

Orochimaru chuckled and said, "It's so good to be back...Hogwarts is going to be experiancing a New Dawn for sure."

Itachi steely looked at the pale skinned child and monotoned, "You lack good punchlines..."

End Chapter One

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Eh, I'm not fully proud of this beginning but I wanted it done so here it is. What do you all think? Shall I update this one fast like Letters to Niisan or slower like Kitten and the Shark? 


	2. Just A Few Ordinary Magical Preteens

Dawning of Magic

by Goggleplex

Summery: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatauki actually.

* * *

Chapter Two - Just A Few Ordinary Magical Preteens 

Professor McGonagall was a strict sort of woman with several strict guidelines she lived her life by. She was, in her opinion, the only responsible person on staff at Hogwarts after all and it wouldn't be right for her to lose her head. Most of her guidelines were in the way she dealt with current students and staff but she also had a few special guidelines dedicated for muggleborn first years. She was very careful to decide which staff member would go to which student. Severus Snape was not an option for student pickup duty. He would likely cause a child to want to be a muggle the rest of their life if he showed up on their doorstep like some grim tax collector. Usually it was Professor Sprout who dealt with muggleborns, especially girls while it was Professor Flitwick who was usually sent to boys homes.

But the Deputy Headmistress was wrapped up into quite a predicament. Eleven letters. All going to the same street and each living on the same house as each other. And none of them was from a magical family based on their last names. But of course Minerva only knew the usual English and Indian sounding names in the area but these names were all so... Asian sounding. Not entirely sure that Professors Flitwick or Sprout would be up for the daunting task of taking a trip to such a small town she instead called Professor Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor, who had a very large interest in muggles from all across the world. If anyone could deal with foreign muggleborns it would be her.

So on an early July morning Professor Burbage apparated to the neighborhood where the house known as the Red Dawn Group Home was located. The street was completely empty save for one large manor-style house. The surrounding sloping hills around the property were lush and green with trees dotting the area thickly enough that the house was completely hidden from the main roadway two miles to the east. Sitting on the front lawn of the manor was a young boy who seemed to be swinging a ridiculously large sword around his head in a practiced and deceptively easy looking manor. As Professor Burbage came closer she was surprised to see that the boy actually had pale blue-gray skin and strange facial markings that resembled gills.

"Excuse me, young man. Did you receive a letter from Hogwarts recently?" The plump professor questioned gently, not wanting to ask about his bizarre appearance too soon for his comfort.

The boy glanced over at her and with a wide, sharp-toothed grin he replied, "Actually I did, ma'am, as did everyone else in the Group Home. I am Kisame Hoskigaki, would you tell me you name, please?"

"Certainly my boy. I am Professor Burbage from Hogwarts. I teach Muggle Studies, not a class you are allowed to take until you are at least a Third Year. Now then, are your parents or guardians around? We received replies agreeing that you would attend but we were unsure if you had been exposed to magic or not."

Kisame grinned, now was the time for the 'show' to begin, "Well Professor, here at the Red Dawn Group Home is where magical freak children go to live when their parents think they've made a mistake by bringing us into the world."

The professor's eye creased and she spoke hesitantly asking, "Whatever do you mean by that Mr. Hoshigaki?"

"You guys can come out now!" Kisame shouted and Professor Burbage blinked in shock when a moment later an ebony skinned boy with green hair popped out of the ground like a plant. From the sky a tiny dot dived down like until a small form leaped off the large unblinking 'owl' and a blond boy with long hair landed beside the plant-boy he grinned cheekily at her and waved, sticking a hand-tongue out at her in the process. A boy who could have been a direct decsendent of Abraxis Malfoy from his appearance simply walked onto the lawn from the front porch, carrying an odd three bladed scythe with him. A fluttering of several hundred white butterflies swarmed into the form of a blue-haired little girl with a solemn expression on her face. There was a blurring motion and a black-haired boy with crimson eyes appeared in a flock of crows followed immediately afterward by a cyclone of threads that pulled together to form a stitched up boy with darkly tanned skin. There was a loud crashing noise as a tiny boy with black hair in an orange mask leaped out of a top window of the manor and rolled a bit before standing, embarrassed to his feet and harmlessly dusting off his grass-stained pants, completely uninjured from his fall. From the same window a turtle-like creature crawled down the side of the building and scuttled over to the blond boy's side. Finally a large white snake crawled out of the door before it morphed into the body of a long haired boy. The ten assembled children stood silently for a moment before there was finally a flash of light and a red-haired boy with several piercings appeared between the group.

"Welcome, adult, to the Red Dawn Group Home. My name is Pein Kouu and I am in charge around here. Now then tell us about this Hogwarts. We've already gotten our school supplies and are a bit curious about it."

Professor Burbage was in a slight state of shock but she quickly shook herself out of it, "Why don't you children tell me about yourselves first? I've never seen such a diverse group of orphans in my life!"

Pein nodded and said, "Very well then Professor Burbage. My name as I've said is Pein Kouu. This house was built some time ago _(three months) _and the eleven of us live here together. For the most of us our parents were...not magical but thanks to unusual circumstances we were born unusual and with magic. For example, we think Kisame here had a mother cursed by a mermaid. His is pretty easy to diagnose but some of us are harder to figure out. For example Zetsu can merge with plants while Deidara can bring clay creations to life. We're just a bunch of ordinary kids. We just have weird abilities...The person who built this place brought us here and though we never see him he supplies us with everything we need. Hogwarts could be what we need to branch out into the world."

Looking down at their bright eyes and innocent faces Professor Burbage melted a little inside_ 'The poor dearies...' _With a warm smile she gently beckoned them all closer and said, "Hogwarts is the finest school of magic in all of the United Kingdom. The school was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of that age. They built the castle together, far from Muggles, for it during an age when magic was feared by many people. At Hogwarts you will be taught how to harness and wield many different kinds of magic and once you graduate you can go on to various careers. Any questions then?"

The pale snake boy raised his hand and asked, "How many students will there be at Hogwarts?"

"Several hundred altogether I'd imagine, though your own age group will have about sixty five children."

"And are the students divided into any groups?" the blue haired girl asked.

"Of course. There are four separate dorms at Hogwarts and each is named after one of the founders: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has children with similar traits within them. Gryffindor is for the bold and daring, Hufflepuff for those loyal and hardworking, Ravenclaw is for the clever and wise and of course Slytherin favors ambition and guile. Now then, other than this information I also have your Hogwarts Express Tickets. If you need me for anything you can contact me by sending an owl addressed to me at Hogwarts."

The long haired blond boy raised his hand and asked, "What do you mean by owl, hm?"

"Oh, how could I have forgotten," Professor Burbage said with an embarrassed cough, "Owls are used as carriers of messages for wizards.They are very intelligent birds who respond well to magic and most are able to find whoever you direct them to."

Pein smiled up at the rotund professor and with a strange light in his eye said, "Thank you for coming and explaining things to us, professor. It has been a real help and I hope we will meet again at Hogwarts sometime."

Professor Burbage fought down the urge to pat him on the head, for she knew boys his age found it irritating, before she beamed and said, "I'm sure I will Mr. Kouu. Now then. When you go to Kings Cross Station Platform 9 3/4 will be between platforms nine and ten. There is an illusion up to keep non-magical people away but the wall will not be solid for the eleven of you."

The children smiled and waved goodbye and an instant later she apparated away. When she left the smiles on the children either disappeared or became more sinister.

"How the hell are we going to be fuckin' separated equally," Hidan complained, "Because I know right now that none of us will be going into a group with such a fuckin prissy name like Hufflepuff, seriously."

"I have a hunch that the school will intervene and send us where we need to be," Pein said, "We now know at least we can trust that woman to eventually know our abilities. She was surprised for sure but not disgusted. She will only remember physical details from our encounter..."

At Hogwarts Professor Burbage returned to Professor McGonagall's office with the strangest feeling that she was forgetting something important. Minerva looked up at the Muggle Studies professor as she entered with a deft knock and with a contemplating expression asked, "Well are they muggleborns or not Charity?"

"They are muggleborns Minerva, but a few of them do have strange sort of appearances. One boy had blue skin and hair while another was infused with a plant of some kind. The only girl there had blue hair and there was a boy entirely covered in sutures! One blond boy had mouths on the palms of his hands and there was a redhead with at least ten piercings all over his face! Their caretaker wasn't with them but I'd imagine he or she is magical because they already had their school supplies."

"Is that so?" Minerva said with a curious expression, "I suppose it is for the best that they have such assistance. Albus is directing all his attention to Harry Potter this year after all. We can't help any of the muggleborns besides him this year to make him feel accomplished. I really am hoping a bright muggleborn comes this year though. It doesn't feel right that the stakes should be stacked if favor of Harry. If he's intelligent he should overcome them."

Charity gave Minerva a kind smile and said, "I'm sure there will be plenty of intelligent muggleborns around. Mr. Kouu was a very intelligent boy and he could pass as a Weasley with that hair if he took out his piercings. Those children were fascinating. Despite their odd appearances they were all just a group of perfectly normal magical preteens."

Back at the Red Dawn Group Home a small mob formed after Deidara unintentionally blew the roof off the house when he was 'dusting'. It would be a long week until the group left for Hogwarts...

End Chapter Two

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Whoo, finished! Next chapter will be coming soon! It will include The Hogwarts Express ride and the Sorting of the Akatsuki! Hope you liked this installment, dry as it was... 


	3. Freaks and Geeks

Dawning of Magic

by Goggleplex

Summery: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatauki actually.

* * *

Chapter Three - Freaks and Geeks

Draco Malfoy wasn't a very patient young wizard. He was spoiled and hasty and when he desired things he got them immediately. But for now he was much to excited to feel impatient. Hogwarts would be his school now and going to school for the first time made him feel almost deliriously happy on the inside. Now that he was at Platform Nine and Three Quarters all he had to do was find his thugs and settle in before making a grand introduction to Harry Potter, who was sure to become awed by his presence and want to become friends with him!

The Hogwarts Express was already in the station and there was a loud clamor and a lot of frenzied bustling as students searched out their friends, parents and children parted and boyfriend greeted their girlfriends with long drown out kisses. Draco gave a smirk as he took a step towards the train only to find himself the next moment spilled onto the ground, as another body had crashed into him in an obvious hurry. "Watch where you're going!" Draco shouted as he glared up at his 'attacker'.

A silver haired boy with piercing violet eyes glared back at him, "Watch out yourself you stupid bastard. I can't believe those fuckers left without me! I'm going to kick their collective asses, seriously."

Draco blanched at the kid's rather colorful language. His mother would punish him severely if even one of those words escaped into his vocabulary. Finding his voice somehow he retorted, "You shouldn't be rushing around anyway. The trains not going to leave for another fifteen minutes."

The boy glared a very condescending expression before replying with, "The fuckers I live with still left without me and I'm going to kick their heathen asses. Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Draco Malfoy. What about you? What's your name?"

"Hidan Daitoku, now if you'll move I need to find my housemates." Hidan straightened up and got back to rushing around to find his "friends".

Draco pushed the incident to the back of his mind to ponder over at a later time. He entered the train and continued to search for his two boulder like friends and plot to meet the Boy-Who-Lived. He had yet to see anyone familiar when he absently slid open a door only to get another earful of expletives.

"Kakuzu you bastard! Why the hell didn't you wake me up this morning!? I should fucking beat the life out of you, seriously!" Ah. It was that Hidan kid again.

"Shut up Hidan. You shouldn't have stayed up so late last night if you knew you weren't going to wake up easily this morning," the boy, Kakuzu apparently, was completely the opposite of Hidan in appearance. Where Hidan was fair skinned and haired Kakuzu was darker tanned and had black hair. His eyes were the most notable thing about him at first, pools of electric green within black. That and he had thick black stitches sewn all the way up from the corners of his lips, across his jawline and to presumably the back of his head. He was a pretty creepy kid.

Hidan looked up before Draco could make a quick and unnoticed escape though, "Hey, it's the clumsy dragon kid. You can sit here fuckwad, that way I can have someone intelligent to talk to unlike this fuckmook."

Kakuzu glared at Hidan and said, "Shut up, Hidan. If you use language like that you'll get into trouble. If you insult the wrong person you might die."

Hidan barked out a laugh and said, "You going back to that shitty expression again? Kakuzu this fuckwad is Draco Malfoy, Draco this fuckmook is Kakuzu Okane."

Kakuzu looked at the completely 'curse-shocked' Draco and said, "Sorry for the fact that the first person you had to meet from Red Dawn was Hidan of all people. Just ignore the moron, we all do."

Draco learned words he never knew existed in the five minutes after that. He wondered if anyone else met anyone as weird as these two...

Harry Potter was upset to find that there weren't any relatively empty compartments to sit in. With only five minutes left to go before the train started would he find anywhere to sit? He opened up a compartment that was empty save for a long haired blond boy and a serious looking redhead, "Excuse me, do you two mind if I sit here, everywhere else is pretty filled up."

"Go ahead," the blond replied before turning toward the redhead, "You can deny it all you want Sasori-danna, but what happened with that medic and your granny proves art is in the moment, a fleeting expression of beauty. My own incident with Itachi's brother proves that. Art is explosion, hm."

"Again you lose the vision of true art, Deidara," the redhead replied, "Even in the end of my own incident what happened with Tobi's incident proved my art is eternal. That girl was inspired by my art but who was ever inspired by yours? My art proves to last in the minds of people for eternity."

"But she was inspired by the ending of your art, not the eternity of it so once again that proves it was in the fleeting moment of your incident that inspired her, not the supposed eternity of your arts, hm."

The redhead, Sasori turned to look at Harry, who was barely listening to their debate and said, "How about you, kid. What do you think of art? Is art an eternal beauty or a fleeting expression?"

Harry quirked an eyebrow. He had never thought about art before, but he sort of got the feeling that answering would be the smart thing to do, "Uh...isn't art truthful and beautiful?"

"Yes, but that leads to the question of what is truly beautiful or what is truly truth," Sasori said, "Is true beauty something that lasts forever, I believe that is so."

"But doesn't everything have to end?" Harry blurted before he could stop himself, Sasori glared coldly at him and Harry hastened to explain, "I mean in life something will be lost. Humanity will go extinct and Earth will become barren. The sun will die. All stars will die out. The universe will implode again or expand into nothingness or something. Since everything begins everything has to end, right?"

The blond gave a gleeful laugh and said, "Finally a man after my own heart! I'm Deidara Bakuha and this misguided fellow is Sasori Akasuna, we're first years at the school, hm."

"So am I. My name's Harry Potter," the be-speckled brunette said with a nervous smile, "It's nice to meet you."

"Potter?" Deidara said with a wide toothy grin, "Where your ancestors clay users, hm? My artistic medium is clay, I make sculptures and they explode very nicely."

"I didn't know clay exploded," Harry said with a confused expression, "If it explodes how will people know you made figures?"

"When they see them explode they always know it's me, hm. But the name Harry Potter seems familiar to me somehow, I wonder why, hm?"

Sasori sighed in irritation, "Don't you know anything, brat? That is the boy in all the history books. He's the one who lived after someone tried a death curse on him."

"Stop talking like that, it makes you sound like an old man saying boy and brat all the time, hm." Deidara said with a huff. Harry smiled a little, these two 'artists' were strange but they seemed harmless. Maybe he could have some friends finally.

Elsewhere on the train Ron was being manhandled by his older brothers, Fred and George, while they looked for someone they could pawn off their brother onto, Finally they came to a corridor and after a quick round of eenie-meenie-miney-moe they slid open one of the doors. Inside the compartment they picked was a serious looking black haired boy with onyx eyes that would have given off the impression of Professor Snape had it not been for the bored expression and lack of greasy skin and hair. Across from him sat a kid who looked like he had an accident in both fish transfiguration and coloring charms. He was blue and had shark-like teeth, gill markings and silvery beady eyes.

"Hey little firsties," Fred said with a cheeky grin.

"We need to get going," George added.

"-But take care of our ickle-Ronniekins,"

"-The poor thing's lonely and scared,"

"-And he needs to branch out"

"-and meet new people anyway. Bye"

"-Bye!"

Ron stood there in the doorway after his older brothers left and flushed a bit, "Sorry they pawned me off to you two."

The blue kid grinned and said, "Nah, it's fine. Take a seat somewhere. I don't bite and neither does Itachi."

Ron sat relieved next to Itachi and across from the blue kid, "So you two are first years then?"

"You got it. I'm Kisame Hoshigaki and the guy you're sitting next to is Itachi Uchiha." Kisame said and reached out to shake the lanky boy's hand.

"My name's, Ron Weasley, those two where my older brothers Fred and George. You should watch out around them. They like playing pranks." Ron said with a sigh.

"Wow, two brothers? I only had a little sister before I left, Itachi had only a little brother." Kisame said and Itachi nodded slightly.

"Five." Ron muttered.

"Excuse me?" Kisame said, rather confused.

"I have five older brothers and one little sister. I'm the youngest brother." Ron said miserably.

"Wow. I don't envy that." Kisame said, "So I've been reading about this sport called Quidditch. It seems sort of like a sissy sport unless your playing as a Beater. I like the Tutshill Tornados, they have a pretty good offensive."

"Are you kidding me? The Chudley Cannons will go all the way this season for sure!" Ron replied, distracted from his wallowing.

"The Chudley Cannons?" Kisame said with a laugh, "Maybe if they work hard they won't be last in the league."

"And you think the Tornados are better? They'll never make it to nationals!"

"You both are fools," Itachi said, speaking for the first time since Ron entered, "Toyohashi Tengu are the ones who have both strong Beaters, swift Chasers and an excellent Seeker and Keeper."

Ron paused and said, "I don't know that team. Is that a real one?"

"Japan's national champions. The entire team is set to replace the Japan National Quidditch Team next year, an event unrivaled in the history of the sport. By our second year they will win the Quidditch World Championship and become legends."

"Well here in the United Kingdom the Chudley Cannons are the true champions."

Kisame coughed but is sounded a bit like 'inyourdreams'.

Tobi was being a good boy, sitting beside Zetsu and minding his own business when a short and sort of round dirty blond haired boy crashed through the door and stumbled to stand to his feet. He flushed slightly and looked apologetic before an older woman wearing green and a rather interesting hat peeked in and brusquely nodded, "This will do. Write me after you get Sorted for the things you have surely forgotten to bring and I'll send then promptly and for goodness sakes Neville, stop fumbling around."

The woman left and Neville could do nothing more than sit shyly beside Zetsu and look down at his hands in embarrassment. Neville noticed the kid he sat beside had green hair and golden eyes but he also had a strange coexistence with a plant. He desperately wanted to ask about it but was too nervous to do so. The other boy had a wild shock of black hair and a round, cheerful face, though he had a feint scar over his left eye and wore orange goggles over his eyes. He waved cheerfully and said, "Hi there! My name's Tobi Sasuga! The guy sitting next to you is Zetsu Hisakata and he's my best friend!"

Neville smiled shyly and mumbled, "I'm Neville Longbottom."

Tobi grasped Neville's hand and shook it enthusiastically saying, "It's wonderful to meet you Neville-san. I'm happy to be going to Hogwarts. I hope I go into Hufflepuff. That house seems to be the friendliest."

"I want to be a Gryffindor." Neville said with a slight flushing, "My mom and dad were Gryffindors."

"Oh Gryffindor isn't so fun!" Tobi said with a shake of his head, "Sure they're brave and all but Hufflepuffs are known for loyalty and being hard workers. If I have friends I'd rather have loyal friends then being around bold and brave people that ignore me all the time."

"Maybe so," Neville said thoughtfully and he silently listened to Tobi chat, feeling ease with the two that he never felt when he was with his Gran. '_Hufflepuffs wouldn't be bad to be around..._' Neville thought as he gave a tentative smile to Zetsu who serenely blinked in return.

Hermione was swiftly becoming sick of the entire wizarding world. Oh sure Professor Sprout had made the magical world sound wonderful and fasinating but everyone in it seemed to be rude! So what if she chatted nervously when she got excited? Just because she corrected a second year student gave them no right to kick her out and call her a "know-it-all-Muggleborn." The train was already moving on its way and she still had no place to sit, no one wanted to sit with a 'first year' and all the compartments with younger students seemed to be filled to the brim. She finally came to the last compartment of the last section of the train and tentively knocked on the door before sliding it open with a peek, "Sorry if I'm bothering you but can I please sit here? Nowhere else has room for me."

There where two kids sitting in the compartment. A girl with blue hair and eyes who had a large, leather bound book in her lap and an orange haired boy with a lot of piercings covering his face. The girl gave an icy glance towards Hermione and the bushy haired brunette stilled unter the intense gaze, was she going to be rejected?

"I don't mind if you sit," the girl finally said, "But it's Pein's decision on if you are allowed to stay or not."

Hermione turned to look at the kid across from the blue girl. He smiled a bit and said, "Go ahead and sit down. It wouldn't be good manners to send you out since the train is already moving."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you very much!" She settled in and finally glanced more closely at the book in the blue haired girl's lap and Hermione gasped in awe.

"Clarissa! I have always wanted to finish that book! Is it as tragic as they say?" Hermione gushed, "I've only read the first thousand pages."

"What is your name?" the blue girl questioned, genuinely interested.

"I'm Hermione Granger. My family isn't magic but I was so excited when I got the acceptance letter for Hogwarts. Magic is absolutely fascinating! I've already finished the books but I haven't memorized Magical Theory yet. I really liked Hogwarts A History even though it isn't required reading."

"My name is Konan Futae and this is my close friend Pein Kouu. We are both orphans but are sure we are the first magical people in out family."

"Oh how sad," Hermione said, "Were you very young when they died?"

"Yes we were," Pein said with a nod, "But we're fine. We live in a place called the Red Dawn Group Home. It's kind of wierd but everyone there got accepted into Hogwarts. It's sure to be an interesting time."

Elsewhere on the train Orochimaru became very popular with upperclassmen Slytherins but he found them all boring, stupid and useless. He wished Kabuto or Sasuke were around to make things more interesting.

For the rest of the journey to Hogwarts the Akatsuki mingled with the student population, creating early ties while spending time with some avarage and unaverage first year students.

The Train finally pulled into Hogsmade Station and the first year students made their way down to the lake where a small fleet of boats awaited them. Ron nearly fell out of the boat when the tenticle of a giant squid reached over to pat a startled Kisame on the top of his spike blue hair. He swatted it away and muttered something about a stupid cephalopod.

The students were brought up to Hogwarts and stood in line before the older students and teachers before a stern looking professor brought out a stool and sat a hat upon it. The hat was battered and old as well as patched, frayed, and extremely dirty. A tear along the brim opened like a mouth and abruptly it broke into song!

"_Oh you may not think me pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_"

After the applause for the hat died down Professor McGonagall took out a list of First Year student names and began the Sorting Ceremony.

"Akasuna, Sasori!"

"The Mistress told me you and the rest of your group would be coming...you are quite a devious boy" _I'm 47 _"And I'm a 1000 year old hat. But beneath all your love of...art...is some definite buried emotion, passion and brain power. Yes, you are quite the clever kid, inventing all your poisons and puppet traps and for destroying the leader of your village you should be a" "SLYTHERIN!"

The table in green clapped and cheered and Harry became worried. After all, hadn't Hagred told him there was no one who came from Slytherin that hadn't gone dark? He'd have to be careful around Sasori...

"Bakuha, Deidara!"

"Wow. Another self proclaimed artist, huh?" _I'll show you self proclaimed! _"No need for that, my boy. I haven't seen a temper like this since I told Charlie Weasley his brother was more mature than he...I believe I know exactly where I shall put you" "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry sighed in relief. At least one of his new friends was at the place he wanted to be in.

"Daitoku, Hidan!"

"Amazing! You've been given what most men in the world could only dream of having, an immortal body. I see you god is...different than ones most believe in nowadays. Your complete and faultless loyalty to this Jashin tells me you should be in" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

_Aw fuckit... _Hidan thought as he steely sat beside Hannah Abbot, giving her an frigid glare that immediately stopped the cheerful greeting he was about to receive. Draco doubted the Sorting Hat's sanity as Hidan settled himself down.

"Futae, Konan!"

"I really feel for you if you've had to put up with men like these your whole life...now let me see here. You are an insanely loyal to you partner but your mind is as sharp as a tack and you are a book obsessed ice queen. I think I'll place you in" "RAVENCLAW!"

Hermione smiled and hoped the two would remain friends evenif she ended up somewhere else.

"Granger, Hermione!"

"Interesting. You have shed your prejudices before even entering Hogwarts, good for you. And since you have more brains, daring, drive and ambition then half the students there I think you should be placed in," "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Hisakata, Zetsu!"

"You seem to be a little strange," _Just wait until I hit puberty, you haven't seen anything until then._ "Okay more than a little strange. You do have a good example of a hard work ethic, working all hours of the night and day. I'm sure you'll be a great addition to" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Professor Sprout wondered if the plant boy would ever stop by if she wanted to ask about his od development.

"Hoshigaki, Kisame!"

"You are a hasty, irritable, and yet nobly deluded individual. You do not have much subtlety for a ninja. I believe the place for you will be," "GRYFFINDOR!"

Ron was glad about his new friend being there and he hoped Itachi would be a Gryffindor as well.

"Kouu, Pein!"

"Hmm, if Voldemort ever returns he'll have a heck of a ways to go since you surpass him in well thought out plans of world domination and god-like ego. Where does an ambitious, egotistical would-be ruler of the world go except for" "SLYTHERIN!"

Hermione was slightly upset but Pein's expression and Konan's showed that they were both at ease with the situation so she would be too."

"Longbottom, Neville!"

"Brave, bright, loyal and hardworking. You would be a good addition to either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor." _Hufflepuff...wouldn't be bad...it's not where my parents were...but I think it might be better if I were loyal to people I care about instead of brave and lonely..._"very well then. Your heart may be filled with courage but your work ethic tells me you should be in" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Malfoy, Draco!"

'_I don't want that insane old hat on my head!_' Draco thought as he lifted the hat, it barely reached his brow when it said, "No question here, you'll go straight to" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Okane, Kakuzu!"

"You are a greedy, bitter, sleazy opportunist whose only desire is to make money, put others through a lot of misery and somehow outlive all your enemies...that's a prime mindset for" "SLYTHERIN!"

Kakuzu sat beside Draco who made room for him at to his left side. So the hat wasn't entirely insane.

"Potter, Harry!"

_Please not Slytherin!_"Not Slytherin huh? I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I suppose there is nowhere else for you to go then but," "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Sasuga, Tobi!"

"I see you have somewhat of a split personality hidden in here: a good boy and a bad one. Your good side is loyal and your bad side is driven. The perfect place for one like you is," "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Uchiha, Itachi!"

"Hmm, you are one crazy and messed up individual. Other than that you have no current ambitions besides finishing your mission and you arn't a bold person. You certainly aren't loyal but that doesn't take away from the fact that your mind is one of the most brilliant ones I've seen in many years. A bored and restless genius should be in" "RAVENCLAW!"

Ron sighed unhappily, Itachi wasn't a Gryffindor but at least Kisame was...

"Weasley, Ronald!"

"Hmm, another Weasley huh? Well there's no question here. You're to be placed in," "GRYFFINDOR!"

Ron smiled in relief and sat across from Kisame and beside the kid Deidara, who was next to Harry.

"Yukihebi, Orochimaru!"

_Oh high Heavens! It's Voldemort's bastard love child!_ Were the only thoughts going through the 'omnipotent' Albus Dumbledore's mind as the serpent-like boy grinned widely and sat with the hat on his head.

"Talented, intelligent and snake summoning? I'd be lynched if I put you anywhere but Slytherin but your personality is much more suited towards" "RAVENCLAW!"

The two pieces had finally been set in the eyes of the Red Dawn. The Magic Holder was a First Year Griffindor. No one noticed that eleven sets of eyes observed the first years at the Gryffindor table for the majority of the feast. One of them would become a part of the Akatsuki's future...whether they wanted to or not.

End Chapter Three

* * *

Whoowie, that took a while but I hope you enjoyed this installment of Dawning of Magic! Please review! 


	4. Schooled

Dawning of Magic

by Goggleplex

Summery: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatsuki actually.

* * *

Chapter Four - Schooled 

Potions. It was a fine subject, one that required precision, brains and the ability to follow instructions flawlessly. The potions laboratory and conjoining lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was cold and damp, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. Sasori loved it already.

"Wonderful," the redhead murmured the morning after the sorting ceremony as he hovered his hands over the various ingredients and jars in the cupboard he was browsing through.

Sasori sensed the person enter the room but thought nothing of it until the person firmly placed his hand on his shoulder and growled, "Weasley! If I find anything missing there will be a fifty point deduction to Gryffindor points."

"I do not care about Gryffindor's points." Sasori tonelessly said as he turned to glance into the teacher's eyes, "And I am not a Weasley. I am Sasori Akasuna."

_'A first year Slytherin.' _Professor Snape's mind recalled. A Slytherin first year up at six in the morning browsing through his NEWT level potions cupboard. Snape removed his hand from Sasori's shoulder and asked, "Are you interested in potions then Mr. Akasuna?"

"Of course I am. I develop my own poisons that help with vermin infestations as well as chemicals and solvents that help petrify wood and animal skins. I am interested in how similar potions is to my own art. I make puppets you see." Sasori lifted his hand to reveal a tiny doll made out of carefully carved wood that resembled himself held carefully in his clutches.

"I often tell my first classes that potions making is a subtle science and exact art," the dark professor said with a twisted smile, "Your little doll could never hold the power that a single drop of one of my potions could do. There is nothing similar to them at all."

The 'little doll' suddenly sprang to life, spinning and whirling towards Professor Snape's face until it stopped a mere millimeter away from his forehead, a little syringe at the end of the doll's hand threatening to inject its contents into Snape's bloodstream, Sasori's eyes narrowed less than what was perceivable to most people as he said, "There is enough poison in my 'little doll' to kill a thousand rats in a second if spread over their environment. I wonder what it would do if injected into a human body?"

Snape raised his eyebrow and said, "Impressive. No one I know has come up with such an innovative way of using potions in a wizards duel. Potions are difficult to use in a struggle. You must have had quite a lot of tutoring in charms in order to make your puppet so animated."

"I use solidified magic strings to control my puppets. Anyone could move a puppet if they dedicated themselves to learning the art of chikara puppetry." Sasori finally lowered the five inch threat from his teacher's face and placed it in one of his robe's over-sized pockets.

"And what exactly is chikara, Mr. Akasuna?" Professor Snape inquired, truly interested in the youngster's answer.

"It's an eastern word for magic, Professor," Sasori replied before flexing his fingers and stretching his arms out and turning to exit the room, "Have a good day sir."

_'Hm, the kid can dish out civil words without turning into a suck up. I'll need to keep an eye out for this one...' _Professor Snape ambled out of the room, he was so distracted by his encounter with Sasori that he didn't even notice the fact that a tenth of the ingredients kept in the storage cupboard were suddenly gone.

Sasori entered the Great Hall about two hours later, having placed his 'borrowed' ingredients in an undisclosed location. There was a commotion near the Gryffindor table that revealed itself to be some sort of monstrous feathered owl creature. Sasori narrowed his eyes at the sight. On the second glance though the 'bird monster' was revealed to be none other than Deidara who was flailing his arms around making Harry who was sitting beside him feel slightly nervous but glad as well since the attention on him had vanished.

"Get them off of me, hm!" Deidara wailed as the flock of owls swarmed him, nuzzling any exposed skin they could find with their feathered heads. They took turns settling on his arms, shoulders and especially the coveted spot on top of his head, not concerned over the blond boy's discomfort. "Sasori-danna! Help me, hm! Get them off!"

"You're an idiot Deidara," Sasori growled, feeling no sympathy whatsoever for his bird-flocked partner, "Have their owners take them if they are bothering you so much. Maybe this will teach you to use a different animal model as reference for your ridiculous sculptures."

"My sculptures are not ridiculous." Deidara said, puffing out his chest in indignation despite the fact that the act made him look more silly than he already did, "They are the perfect epitome of art."

Sasori scowled at the younger-though-he-didn't-look-it boy, "You are a fool, Deidara. There is no such thing as perfection unless it is made to be eternal. Your errant outlook on beauty is blank and without any appeal nor character. Art is flawless and eternal."

Deidara turned red with rage and he got into Sasori's face shouting, "Art is in the moment you coot! My art may have its distinct quirks but its scars and the impact my art creates is what defines it and what inspires emotion... for that single moment, any of my pieces become the true definition of art."

Hermione had been speaking with Konan when the 'artists discussion' began taking place. Watching Deidara fall into a string of shouting and incoherent ranting she felt exasperated and asked, "Konan, you probably know those two since Kisame was speaking to us last night and mentioned that he lived with you and several others in a group home. But I would like to know if those two argue like that all the time."

"Unfortunately." Konan said with an icy glare sent in the bickering duo's general direction, "Don't let their hostility fool you however. Those two are the closest comrades of anyone at home besides probably myself and Pein. Arguing about the one true perception of art with each other is their way of saying hello and goodbye."

"Hello Konan," Orochimaru said as as he plopped down beside Hermione and across from the blue haired girl, "Whose your brown eyed friend?"

Konan nodded in a silent greeting and without a trace of emotion said, "Orochimaru, this is Hermione. Pein and I met her as we traveled here. Hermione this is Orochimaru, he may look strange and act like a pervert but he's just interested in how things work."

"It's a pleasure to meet one of Konan's friends Orochimaru," Hermione said carefully committing the pronounciation of his name to memory so she wouldn't embarrass herself later.

"As it is a pleasure for me to meet such a promicing witch as yourself," Orochimaru said with a grin that came off as a bit leery.

Hermione fought down a blush and silently returned to her breakfast prompting Orochimaru to continue to converse with Konan, "Did you know thanks to the gossip mill around here there's a ten-to-one odds that a professor will ask if I'm related to that coot Voldemort today? What do you think about it Konan? Could I pass as a relative to that magical maniac?"

"Anyone with half a brain could see the two of you are as closely related as the Kazekage is to the Amekage. The dark wizard is bald, has red eyes, bad teeth and is physically weaker than a primary school athlete. You however have hair, gold eyes, straight teeth and could probably knock out a troll if you punched it correctly. The only thing you lack in when comparing the two of you is your magic is far inferior." Konan took a dainty bite of her muffin and waited for Orochimaru to reply while watching Deidara pelt school owls at an unamused Sasori.

"I'll just need to work on that for a bit," Orochimaru said with a slightly wicked grin. There was a slamming of the doors of the Great Hall to reveal an angry looking Kakuzu and a pointedly sleepy looking Pein while following closely behind them was Draco Malfoy who looked stressed and relieved at the same instant.

Kakuzu marched over towards Sasori and growled, "Oi, sawdust brains, you were supposed to wait for us this morning. Where the heck were you?"

"I had business to attend to," Sasori replied, giving Kakuzu a silent signal to back off. The dark haired money monger simply huffed and turned to the Slytherin table and walked over to get some breakfast. Pein was already sitting at the table but he had his head nestled into the crook of his arms and seemed to be sleeping peacefully even as Deidara noisily passed him with about eight school owls following in his wake, Harry shouting at him to hold up as they went to look for their first class of the year.

As the first days passed the only people to get much of a reputation from the teachers from the first years were Hermione Granger for being exceptionally gifted for a muggleborn and Pein Kouu who slept through more than half of every class he entered. It wasn't until Thursday evening in the block before dinner that Professor Snape got his first class meeting with Red Dawn members in the setting of a classroom. The first year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were together and it proved to be an eventful experience.

"Ah yes," Professor Snape said as he eyed the slightly nervous first years who trickled into the room, "Well, come in and be swift about it."

At his order the students upped their speed and sat at their tables, the Ravenclaws with parchment and quills out already while the Hufflepuffs sat frozen in fear. With the exception of one silver-haired boy who simply looked irritated. He slowly called out names on the roll sheet, and once that was through he began his usual speech for the first year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making, many of you will hardly believe this is magic as there is very little foolish wand-waving. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew knowledge and even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads and know-it-alls that I usually have to teach. Those who don't know anything will learn something here and those of you who believe you know everything will learn that they are sadly mistaken."

Tobi looked desperate to start learning new things and he even pulled out an extra quill in case his ink in the first one ran out. Beside him Zetsu was thoughtfully chewing on the edge of a piece of parchment, feeling the skin of it stating his cravings for flesh for the moment. He had already informed the odd looking cooks that he had a special diet and that all his foods were to be as meaty and rare as possible, otherwise fellow students would start to look more and more like appetizers than people... Neville was wringing his hands nervously in the aftermath of Professor Snape's short speech. He felt like a dunderhead already. On the other side of the classroom Snape nearly met his match in the icy glare department when it came to Konan. Itachi looked uninterested and Orochimaru seemed amused and interested by the speech.

Snape began to lecture on the properties of healing cures and how they were similar to detachment potions with a chinking sound constantly ringing from somewhere in the classroom. Finally he was completely fed up by it so he swiftly turned in the direction where the noise was coming from and hissed, "Whoever is making that infernal racket would be advised to stop creating it."

Snape zeroed in on the silver haired Hufflepuff kid. While scribbling notes with his left hand he was patiently pulling together and rubbing silver and red beads on a long rosery with his right hand. Hidan noticed Snape glaring at him almost instantly and simply asked, "What the hell are you looking at? I'm taking the damn notes."

"Don't tell me you're a Catholic," Snape said with a slight sneer, "You would never pray enough Hail Mary's to get out of purgatory if you're actively preforming magic anyway, according to your belief system."

"Fuck no professor," Hidan replied causing a few of his more sheltered peers to flinch slightly, "I worship the fucking almighty and awesome god Jashin. And magic can be used by me since I am a Jashinite Acolyte. I just need to do these fucking tedious prayers so I don't have to purify myself until after midnight tonight."

Professor Snape sneered at the annoying chain rattler and in a very condensending voice said, "Your little make believe Jashin has no place in this classroom Mr. Daikoto. Gods do not exist, only magic. That ridiculous chain is not a part of your uniform so remove it and get back to taking notes."

_Hidan had better not blow our cover over that remark._ Konan thought silently as an unholy fire sparked in Hidan's eyes.

"Fuck off you heathen-assed bastard," Hidan growled back, "I have the full authority of Jashin to completely purify you for speaking in such a way about him. Had I not completed my nessissary prayers before I entered this fucking cold castle I would fuckin purify you in Jashin's name in the most painful way I could imagine! So once again, fuck off." Hidan then sneered at his professor's enraged expression. His cocky visage brought to Professor Snape's mind the undesired image of Luicius Malfoy for a moment.

"Five points from Hufflepuff for your disrespect, Mr. Daikoto."

"I'll give you my respect when you treat me with respect first you dried out, grease faced, old fuck-off. And for your information my last name is pronounced Daitoku, so stop fucking up the translation."

Snape's eyes swept over his classroom. The remaining Hufflepuffs were still in shock over their peer's language with the exception of Zetsu who looked bored and Tobi who still looked eager to learn something. Neville's face was as white as a sheet. The Ravenclaws looked shocked as well but a few of them seemed to agree with Hidan's point. The professor had mocked an unknown person's belief and had showed not an inkling of respect towards it. Itachi, like Zetsu, had a bored expression on his face while Konan still glared with her icy disapproval towards everyone and everything. Orochimaru was laughing his heart out as visibly as he could without having Snape turn on him somehow.

"A detention on Saturday at seven for your language _Mr. Daitoku._ As for the rest of you, partner with a person in your immediate vicinity and start the potion on page ten of your textbooks. _Now._"

There was a scurrying of motion and there was a tense silence as everyone created their boil cure potions and that night there were disbelieving whispers being spoken throughout the school all talking about the story of a first year Hufflepuff who had actually stood up for himself in spite of the dreaded Professor Snape.

The next morning it was the first year Gryffindor and Slytherin's turn to meet Snape for the first time. Professor Snape started the class by taking the roll call and to the notice of everyone he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new -- celebrity."

Draco Malfoy glanced over at the bespeckled boy and merely rolled his eyes in contempt, Potter wasn't a person he wanted to be associated with any more. He looked like a raggedy, ordinary and most of all boring kid. Kakuzu, Sasori and even that lazy Pein were much more important to have ties with. How Draco knew this he wasn't sure but he was positive that there was something important about those three. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black and held iciness and contempt. After yesterday's escapades with the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw class he wasn't in the mood for being anything close to nice.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began, unknowingly drawing in Deidara's attention with his words. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort with a certain first year Hufflepuff the now only notable exception. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Harry felt a little sick to his stomach and Ron exchanged a bewildered look with Kisame as they both considered the teacher's words. Hermione was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. Pein appeared to be falling asleep at his seat.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly, causing Pein to suddenly startle awaken with a start, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Deidara, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air. Pein began to fall asleep again.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut -- fame clearly isn't everything."

Kakuzu watched the exchange in slight amusement. This teacher clearly hated the boy but for what reason? Snape ignored Hermione's hand as well as Sasori who had calmly raised his hand as well.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at the more amused Slytherins such as Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter. Pein's head slumped forward and Snape glared briefly at the ginger haired punk before glancing back at Harry.

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. Did Snape really expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi? And why was he only interrogating him when there was another Gryffindor and another Slytherin who clearly knew the answers to the questions?

Snape focused on Harry, still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand and Sasori's nonchalant one.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Hermione was about to stand up, but Kisame, who was sitting next to her placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. She shot him a look of contempt but huffed and sat still, her hand stayed up stretching toward the dungeon ceiling though.

"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione and Akasuna does, though, why don't you try one of them?"

A few people laughed; Harry caught Deidara's eye, and Deidara sent him an amused wink and a slight thumbs up. Snape, however, was not pleased.

"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione.

"Mr. Akasuna, answer the question for Mr. Potter."

Sasori, his voice calm and unwavering as usual, spoke to the class, "Asphodel and wormwood make a powerful sleeping potion known as the Drought of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will serve as an antidote for most poisons. Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant."

Professor Snape nodded curtly and said, "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter. Mr. Kouu! A detention tonight at 6:30 for falling asleep in class! Wake up immediately!"

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone while battling Pein's state of consciousness, the only person whom he seemed to like was Sasori. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Mr. Akasuna had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud explosion filled the dungeon. Deidara had somehow managed to blow Kisame's cauldron into a coagulated mess, and their potion was all across the stone floor, walls and even the ceiling. Deidara didn't look too concerned about the burning holes in people's shoes and acid dripping onto tables. In fact he looked almost proud of himself. Within seconds, the whole class, with the exception of an again snoozing Pein was standing on their stools trying to keep themselves from being burned while Deidara seemed unfazed by the boils that blistered across his skin.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the scattered potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

"Yup, I added extra fangs too which made it blow up instead of just fizzling out. Isn't the pursuit of knowledge like art, hm? Learning new stuff is a blast!" Deidara seemed not to notice the boils that had started to pop up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Kisame. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Deidara.

"You -- Potter -- why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.

"Don't push it," he muttered, when Harry glared at him, "I've heard from my brothers that Snape can turn very nasty."

"And for the last time Mr. Kouu, **wake up**!"

For the first week it was pretty mellow considering who the Akatsuki really were...

End Chapter Four

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( ) Questions you have about Pein's 'laziness' will be explained in the next chapter. The poor guy's exhausted with the weight of finding who the Magic Holder is as well as figuring out how to impersonate Magneto/Voldemort/Dr. Gero/villain of the week... ( ) 


	5. The Ground's The Limit For Some

Dawning of Magic

by Goggleplex

Summery: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatsuki actually.

* * *

Chapter Five - The Ground's The Limit For Some 

Just as the first years were becoming used to their new schedules and classes it was soon announced that a new class was to be taken, flying lessons. On that day Sasori rose early in the morning greeting the dawn in his usual manner, by working on his potions far away from the regular student body's attention. He worked there and the hours of the morning grew later until finally the door to his 'secret lab' opened abruptly, revealing his mission partner, Kakuzu, who looked just about ready to rip something apart with his bare hands.

"I can't take it! He's driving me crazy, Sasori! What the hell does Pein-sama hope to accomplish by failing every class he enters while telling us to rise above the average so we can assist the magic holder in learning magic? He actually fell asleep in his _hot__breakfast cereal_ this morning!"

"I'm sure he has something up his sleeve," Sasori stoically replied as he carefully stirred three teaspoons of powdered dragon skin into a silver potion which sat on a block of ice, causing it to turn a creamy green color, "But I'm enjoying myself here no matter what our mission is. If I had access to these potions and ingredients in the old world I could have tripled the power of my puppets and my own body. When the time comes for me to transform myself once more into my perfected body I will have some enhancements ready."

"What does this do?" Kakuzu asked as he bent over to peer suspiciously the cold potion.

"Once concentrated into a third of its volume one drop of this potion will allow me to prevent any minor illness from infecting me for a week. As a puppet I never experienced a flu or a cold but I need to take this since this environment it colder and damper than what I'm used to."

The door opened again and this time Hidan entered the room, "Jashin curse it all, that Neville brat is fucking making me want to put a pike through his moronic head, seriously."

Following behind him Zetsu entered the room as well, his voice chastising Hidan as he said, "Don't be so critical, Hidan-san. Neville's a good boy and has a lot of friendly ties to students in Gryffindor and that will make it easier for us to branch into it."

"I thought I was a good boy Zetsu-san," Tobi whined slightly, ignoring the dark voice in the back of his mind that told him to stop being so annoying.

"Tobi, you are a good boy," Zetsu assured, "But Neville is a good boy as well and will be a good person to keep ties with in this new world."

Sasori snorted in slight disdain as he carefully waved his wand over the potion in the cauldron, concentrating it into a stronger substance and bottling it inside a corked vial. "I need to learn to fly now. Don't mess with the ingrediants in here or I'll use a potion to turn you all into mudskippers."

The door to the secret room slammed before Tobi finally dared to say something.

The bright eyed boy laughed a bit as he said, "Boy, Sasori-san sure is confused. Transfiguration turns things into mudskippers, not potions. Let's hope he doesn't flunk out for being so dumb isn't that right, Zetsu-san?"

Hidan sneered and growled, "Don't pick out the speck in one fucking guy's eye when you have a fucking plank of wood in your own, you moronic idiot. Seriously."

"Come, we will be late for Potions if we do not begin going towards the class soon," Zetsu intoned.

Hidan laughed and disdainfully said, "That teacher is the most useless bastard I've met in my combined lives. How he manages to teach anyone anything worthwhile is a fucking mystery that even Jashin-sama couldn't reveal to me."

In the Gryffindor common room Deidara was excitedly shuffling from one foot to the other, waiting impatiently for the time to come so that he could go down to the field where the brooms where. Kisame stood next to him, not entirelly as thrilled as his partner was, but curious nevertheless. The clock struck nine o clock and Deidara, not seeing any sign of Harry nor Ron, couldn't wait for them any longer. They were all going to the same place anyway, so why wait?

"Let's not be late, Kisame-danna," Deidara said with a gleam of excitement dancing in his eyes before he rushed out the common room and down out through the doors of the castle.

"I'm right behind you," Kisame said with a gruff sigh of impatience before the pair made their way to the Quidditch pitch for the flying lesson. They arrived first followed soon after by the rest of Gryffindor house. The Slytherins where already at the field and stood around looking towards the castle in the hopes that their teacher would come soon.

"So think you two can fly?" questioned Ron as he stepped up beside Kisame and Deidara.

"Don't know I've never tried," replied Kisame. Deidara just stayed quiet, wanting to blurt out his secret but knowing better than to say something.

"I've been doing it since I was a kid, playing Quidditch with my brothers, flying round home and stuff like that." Ron boasted.

"Good for you Ron," Kisame said with a grin, "I'm sure we'll all be impressed by your broom flying skills."

Madam Hooch finally arrived and she stood before the class who in turn were standing near the brooms. She swept her hawk-like gaze over the class and with a curt smile she said, "Alright class, my name is Madam Hooch and I am the flying instructor. I want everyone next to a broom with the broom on your wand hand side."

There was a flurry of movement as the class complied with Madam Hooch's instructions. Harry and Deidara stood beside each other near to Madam Hooch while Ron and Kisame stood across the way from them. Sasori stood several feet away from Deidara and while Kakuzu and Pein stuck close to Draco and Hermione who stood next to brooms at the far end of the field.

"Now reach your wand hand out over the broom and say 'up'."

There was a collection of calls as the students cried 'Up!' trying to get their broom to comply. Few students made any difference; most brooms just stayed still or rolled over. Some got their broom to comply, Draco and Ron included. Deidara reached his hand out and said in a voice that was a bit forceful "Up!" causing the broom to leap into his hand instantly. He was surprised at the feeling of power that rushed through him when the broom impacted his hand. It was absolutely amazing and the anticipation of the freedom he would receive when he finally got into the air was almost palatable, he hadn't been in the sky for weeks.

At the far end of the row Hermione was struggling with her own broom. As Madam Hooch was moving around the group helping the students who were having trouble Hermione was nervously repeating 'up, up, up' slowly becoming more exasperated. She had been so happy about excelling in so many of her classes that to fail now would cause her no end of embarrassment. Pein, his own broom in hand, looked over at her struggling and felt inclined to help her.

"Don't fear it Hermione," he said "I know it's difficult to understand but the broom draws its power from your confidence and skill. It will only work while you want it to. If you harbor any fear of the impending flight the broom will not work. It won't go any further than your skills allow."

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Releasing it she commanded "Up!" causing the broom to leap into her hand and drawing a smile from the girl.

"Thank you, Pein." Hermione said sincerely, not noticing Draco glaring at the heavy eyed boy.

Pein turned to the enraged looking boy and raising an eyebrow asked, "What are you glaring about?"

"You shouldn't have helped her," Draco said, feeling ill at his housemate's actions, "It's not the job of a Slytherin to help a Gryffindor. Especially since she's not even pure-blooded."

"What you fail to realize," Pein replied in a neutral tone, "Is that while you ostracize anyone who doesn't see your worldview is that a person who truly wants to rise up in this world will have ties in every conceivable social path. Maybe when you become wiser you will understand my reasoning."

"Dealing with mudbloods will get you killed one day," Draco sneered and was completely astonished when Pein slugged him in the face, knocking a tooth loose.

"Do not insult those I choose to consort with." Pein coolly intoned, not flinching in the slightest when Madam Hooch was in his face a moment later.

"Mr. Kouu! Violence will not be tolerated in my class. You will have a detention with me tonight at seven and are to remain on the ground for the duration of the class, is that understood?"

"Certainly," Pein replied and settled nonchalantly to the ground, crossing his legs as he bent back in a comfortable position, resting his eyes in an impromptu nap. Hermione looked troubled but focused her attention on the lesson once more.

Madam Hooch assisted Draco up from off from the ground and said, "Go up to the Hospital Wing and have Madam Pomfrey look at your jaw Mr. Malfoy."

The blond muttered angrily but ambled off towards the Hospital Wing, wondering if he should talk to his father about Pein or if he should keep the situation to himself.

Hooch ended gossiping whispers swiftly by shouting, "Excellent form class! Now step over your broom and place your wand hand about six inches from the front of the broom gripping it like you would shake someone's hand. Place your other hand about half way between yourself and your lead hand like so." Hooch described the grip and showed the class before going around and correcting students grip.

Both Deidara and Harry got the grip correct first time but others, like Sasori, had to be corrected often earning the comment 'that grip is terrible its like this'

Kisame smiled and gave a teasing laugh to his friend when Madam Hooch told Ron that his was one of the worst grips she had ever seen and she would have expected better with so many great fliers in the family.

"Alright class on the count of three I want you to push off the ground hover at three feet then return to the ground by leaning forward. Ready? One, Two…"

Before she had the change to get to three Deidara leaped off the ground, excited to finally be able to fly once again and he soared off into the sky. Ten feet, twenty feet, fifty feet he rose before he turned to the ground and shouted, "What's everyone waiting for, hm?"

Madam Hooch looked slightly irritated but she blew her whistle and the rest of the class rose as one to join Deidara in the sky. Harry leaped raced into the sky, the act of flight coming to him naturally. He topped off next to Deidara, who was higher up than most everyone dared to go, with an excited rush he shouted to his friend, "This is great, Deidara! I've never felt so free before!"

"You haven't felt anything yet, Harry, hm." Deidara shouted before a slightly daring grin crossed his face, "Wanna take a dive?"

"Sounds ridiculous," Sasori said, surprising the clay sculptor that he has risen so far, though he was ten yards lower then the other two were, Sasori had never liked flying. "You'll break your neck, brat."

"It looks like your straining, Sasori-danna," Deidara teased, "Maybe you should go lower before you fall from your broom and go splat, hm."

Sasori's knuckles where white from gripping the broom handle but his face was still impassive, "I will not fall." Out from his pocket though a little glass stopper filled with a cream-green colored potion fell, plummeting to the ground at an impressive speed.

"Damnit I worked on that all week!" Sasori growled, marking it off as a lost cause but Deidara, seeing a challenge, stepped up to take it. Deidara didn't wait for Harry's shout to stop him before he suddenly turned and flew down to the ground, flatting himself against the broom all the while urging it beyond the normal speeds it could reach. He sent the broom into a steep dive chasing the vial as it plummeted to the earth. The ground was rising at Deidara fast he finally caught up and snatched the vial out of the air saving it from being shattered against the ground. Inches from the ground Deidara pulled out of the flight and spun round in the direction of Sasori who had landed during his chase. He flew fast and hard directly at Sasori, never slowing as the other boy glared at his friend for being such a daredevil showoff. About a meter from Sasori Deidara stopped the broom and flipped off landing face to face with Sasori centimeters separating them so Deidara could feel his cool breath on his face.

"Mr. Bakuha!" came a call across the field. Deidara looked up to see Madame Hooch marching towards him, a maniac gleam in her eye. Deidara felt impending doom he hadn't felt since his days at Iwagakure's Ninja Academy.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret doing that," Deidara whispered before turning and walking towards the flying instructor to seal his unfortunate fate.

"Follow me Mr. Bakuha," she said before turning and leading into the castle.

Deidara followed the professor through the winding hall until they got to a class. She opened the door and called something inside which Deidara could not hear. Deidara nearly felt his blood run cold when his Head of House, Professor McGonagall emerged. 'Pein is going to skin me alive for being expelled before being here even a month.' Deidara miserably thought to himself. McGonagall and Deidara followed Madam Hooch as she lead the two to a rather small office.

"First Deidara, your punishment for acting so recklessly will be to lose ten points. Now Deidara I'm sure you know Professor McGonagall. Professor I know you aren't too familiar with Deidara but my dear I have found you your new seeker."

McGonagall's look of stern disapproval towards Deidara vanished in a moment and was replaced by one of confusion "Really Madam? I was under the impression that you were going to test Harry for the position. He doesn't seem to even have the right build for it. Can he actually fly?"

"Oh very much so! He caught this vial that a Slytherin student dropped after a seventy foot dive pulling up a foot from the ground before turning and flying back to the group and he dismounted like moving poetry." She replied obviously enjoying the memory she turned to Deidara "Was that was your first time on a broom?"

Deidara nodded getting the feeling he had when he had first survived his first brush with authority back in the old world. The important thing was that he wasn't going to be expelled and for that he was thankful for his luck.

"Now Mr. Bakuha," Professor McGonagall said, her strict persona returning, "you will have detention with me tonight at eight o'clock for being so reckless and I don't want to hear you bragging about this to anyone."

"Actually Professor I don't think he should tell anyone, maybe just his close friends if they'll keep this secret, you might be able to keep him as a secret weapon," proposed Madam Hooch.

"That's a good idea. I'll see you this evening at eight o clock. Until then Mr. Bakuha," Deidara took the dismissal and left. He made his way to the Gryffindor common room where he found Harry with Kisame and Ron talking in rather hushed tones. He walked over to the couch and quietly sat in the seat next to Harry and across from Kisame. As soon as he was seated the inquisition began.

"What happened, Deidara?" Kisame asked

"Why did you do it?" Harry put in a second later.

"Did you get expelled?" Ron seemed excited about the prospect for some odd reason, "And what happened to that Akasuna kid?"

They asked the questions in hushed but hurried tones trying to find if their classmate had been expelled from school before the end of the first semester.

Deidara finally stopped the flow of questions and finally tried to explain that he hadn't't been expelled. "Right," he began "I haven't been expelled but I am in detention with Professor McGonagall."

"Yeah but that can't be all that happened, what else worked out?" Ron pushed trying to get the details of the meeting.

"Well, I've been given a position in the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a seeker. This information has to be kept secret though Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch want to keep the details quiet," Deidara explained causing the guys to hound him in their excitement.

"This is awesome," Ron said, "There hasn't been a First Year player in over a century! You must have been really good! And I could never imagine helping a Slytherin of all things would make something as good as this turn out."

"That's completely unfair of the staff you know," a feminine voice broke in and the four turned to look at an angry looking Hermione, "You helped a Slytherin and got on the House Quidditch team but when a Slytherin helped me he got detention for the trouble it caused him. Don't you see how unfair that is?"

"Who cares?" Ron replied, "No one asked for your opinion anyway. Besides if you're friends with a Slytherin you must be as bad as one. You don't even have friends from your own house since you spend time with that ice queen Konan and that freaky guy Ororimatu."

"His name," Hermione growled, "Is Orochimaru. And you, Ronald Weasley are a completely prejudiced person!"

Hermione crossed her arms and marched angrily up the girls dorm staircase, leaving the four boys in her enraged wake. Kisame looked thoughtful for a moment but the expression disappeared as Harry asked "So we can't tell anyone about you being the seeker right?"

He'd talk to Deidara about Hermione at a later time. For now he'd tease Deidara about being involved in a sport on the sissiest position a ninja could have.

End Chapter Five.

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Hope you liked the update! Please review and tell me if you did/didn't! 


	6. Trolling and Sheep

Dawning of Magic

by Goggleplex

Summery: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatsuki actually.

* * *

Chapter Six - Trolling and Sheep

On Halloween morning everyone in the castle awoke to the sweet smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the halls. Tobi was making a nuisance of himself as he kept trying to follow the sent to the kitchen and everyone could feel the thrill of the holiday in the air. And even better for the Gryffindor's that day, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to make objects fly.

This was something they had all been dying to do since they had seen him make various objects fly across the classroom in a stunning display of spinning and pseudo juggling. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Deidara was partnered with Harry and Kisame with Justin Finch-Fletchley. Ron, however was partnered with Hermione. Deidara was finding it hard to tell whether it was Ron or Hermione that was angrier at the situation.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick squeaked from atop his pile of books. "And dictation is of utmost importance as well."

It was very difficult. Deidara and Kisame swished and flicked, but their feather just sat lying on the desk. Deidara got so impatient that he prodded the feather with his wand and it unexpectedly exploded making it so that the only class he hadn't caused an explosion in so far was History of Magic.

Kisame glanced over to Ron and Hermione's table to onlt to see that he wasn't having much luck either.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms around like strangely shaped bird wings.

"You're saying it all wrong," the two heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever!" Ron snarled.

"Alright, then. Watch." Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her robes, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The entire class abandoned all their attempts at their own feathers to watch as Hermione made her own rise about five feet above her and Ron's desk and hover there.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "See here everyone! Miss Granger's done it!"

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.

"Blimy, she's such a know-it-all. It's no wonder she doesn't have any real friends," Ron said to Kisame as he, Harry, and Deidara pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "She's a nightmare, honestly."

Hermione shoved passed Deidara, Harry and the other Gryffindor boys, running as fast as she could down the hall and away from their line of sight. "Wait Hermione-san!" Kisame shouted but she kept moving.

"Ah, let her go Kisame," Ron said with a scowl, "I know from my sister you shouldn't confront girls when they're crying and mad."

"I don't think she looked mad, hm..." Deidara said as he looked down the hall, feeling slightly bad that he hadn't defended her. But wasn't it necessary to be closer to Harry then to Hermione? He was the one that the Akatsuki had narrowed down to being the Holder of Magic since he had survived the killing curse when he was an infant.

Hermione spent her day looking into the mirror in the girl's bathroom, the words that Ron had said echoed in her mind like static. '_Blimy, she's such a know-it-all. It's no wonder she doesn't have any real friends._'

Hermione tried to block out the voices, but couldn't. She dragged herself in a bathroom stall, curled her legs up into a ball and began to sob…

Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Ron, Deidara and Kisame overheard Parvati telling her friend Lavender Brown that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked a little awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione right out of their minds.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins flicker. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

The Akatsuki found themselves relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere that the feast provided. Zetsu and Tobi where encouraging Neville to sit beside Hidan, who looked more cheerful than most people had ever seen him, mostly because earlier in the evening he provided some animal sacrifices to Jashin as well as 'purifying himself' from his sins by staking himself to the floor. His wounds already stitched up by an exasperated Kakuzu. Kakuzu had been making a side profit by selling cliff notes to students who weren't bothering to study for a sickle a page, after having stolen a seventh year Ravenclaw's carefully cataloged notes over the past few years. Orochimaru and Itachi were becoming less hostile towards each other but the stoic Uchiha still remained the biggest mystery out of the Red Dawn kids to the Professors. Pein wasn't sleeping and he shared in Konan's activity of glaring at Deidara and Kisame for not defending 'their' student.

It didn't help that Pein was scolding them trough the connection they shared with him thanks to their old contact with the rings. '_You two are morons. That little brat has a very superior intellect and if the two of you weren't making yourselves out to be a bunch of dumb school children you would see the potential she has as a future spy for our cause. Before this night ends you __**will**__ fix this._'

The two sighed at the unfairness of it all but mentally affirmed the message they received. They would fix it when they saw the girl again... The feast had continued after that when a wild-eyed panic stricken Professor Quirrell came running into the Great Hall with his turban askew. He skidded to a halt before Professor Dumbledore at the staff table.

"There's a troll in the dungeon," he stammered in breathless voice before he promptly fainted from sheer anxiety.

There was an uproar that threatened to break several sound barriers. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy Weasley was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

"What about Hermione, she doesn't know about the troll." Deidara whispered to Kisame, who was looking over, watching Kakuzu argue with a prefect against going back, he caught the words "If _you_ want to be smashed like an ant be my guest but I have a Transfiguration quiz tomorrow and don't exactly have a desire to spend my night recovering from troll caused injuries in the Hospital Wing."

Finally he turned to Deidara and whispered back, "All right, let's do this then, but no one had better see us."

Their departure from the crowd of students was easier then expected and their journey towards the girls' bathroom was mostly quiet. The look of triumph quickly disappeared off the two boy's faces when they nearly ran right into the path of their teacher, Severus Snape.

Snape crossed the corridor just a few feet in front of where Deidara and Kisame had stopped and proceeded up the nearby staircase. They waited a few moments, listening carefully for Snape's fading footsteps before continuing toward their destination.

"That was close," commented Kisame.

"I'll say," replied Deidara. "I hate using stealth in this place, all the footsteps echo a little, hm. And shouldn't Snape be heading towards the dungeons? As useless as he is, that is his classroom area and you'd think he'd want to protect it."

"Ugh," Deidara groaned suddenly before coming to a halt and covering his mouth with his shirt sleeve, causing Kisame to run into his back, nearly toppling the both of them over.

"What is that smell?" asked Kisame as he scrunched his nose into a grimace, "It smells like a dozen people are rotting in a vat of old fish innards." He quickly followed Deidara's example and brought a hand up to his nose to try and shut out the awkward stench that lingered in the corridor.

"Now that's a lovely image, hm" Deidara sarcastically replied as he was drowned out by a burst of loud grunting that besieged their ears. Their attention was immediately drawn to the far end of the hallway, where a giant shadowy figure lumbered its way in their direction.

As the figure emerged from the shadows, Deidara and Kisame immediately recognized the lurking creature as a troll -- the troll Professor Quirrell had said was in the dungeons. Anticipation growing on their faces, the boys exchanged quizzical looks. They were nowhere near the dungeons and with a castle the size of Hogwarts there was no way the troll could've moved areas that quickly.

The troll was a large creature –- it filled nearly the entire corridor at roughly twelve feet tall –- its large arms dragged a huge wooden club along the floor as it moved down the hall. The two smaller boys shrank back as much as they physically could into the shadows along the wall as the troll neared. The once horrible stench was quickly becoming even more of a foul one.

The troll seemed to hesitate at the open doorway halfway down the corridor. It tilted its head from side to side as if trying to judge its worth. After a few tense moments, the troll made its decision and stepped noisily through the doorway.

"Let's get out of here, Kisame," said Deidara, turning around to go back the way they had come. "That was too close for comfort, hm."

"No," replied Kisame, stopping Deidara in his tracks.

"What do you mean no, hm?" asked the blond ex-Iwa ninja, a hint of impatience on his face.

"Let's close that door first," Kisame answered quietly, creeping towards the open doorway. "I don't know how that troll got inside the building in the first place, but nobody knows that it's not in the dungeons. A closed door will certainly give us more time to find Hermione and keep anyone from running into that thing."

Deidara smiled shakily. "You sure don't do things in halves, do you, hm? That's not something I'd expect from you without Itachi-teme around."

"I have to make up for what you lack, namely common sense," Kisame replied with his usual sharky grin as he walked over to the doorway.

Deidara just huffed irritably and took a calming breath as he marched right up to Kisame's side and began to help pull on the door. It creaked slightly and its rusty hinges fought against the movement, but their persistence paid off as it soon closed with a large slam that echoed throughout the hall.

Kisame and Deidara both jumped away from the door and hurried down the hall, intent on putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the troll as they continued their search for Konan's 'student buddy'. The urgency of the situation made itself known to the young shinobi when a frantic, high-pitched scream reached their ears, bringing both boys to a stumbling halt.

"That couldn't be …" Deidara trailed off as he turned to meet Kisame's gaze. There was only one logical choice and the danger was too much to be denied.

"Hermione," Kisame confirmed solemnly.

"There's no time to run back for help, hm" Deidara said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two cream colored lumps of clay from inside his robes. Kisame stared at his partner in disbelief.

"You still carry that stuff around? We're supposed to be undercover you know."

"Now, now, Kisame-danna," Deidara said with a devilish grin, "these will help us bring the attention over here and it might distract that troll so we can get to Hermione, hm."

"This might actually work." Realization hit Kisame and he began to look at the lumps in his partner's hands with approval.

Deidara shrugged and began to mold one of the lumps before he shoved it into his hand mouth. "I can always get more clay later, hm." A couple of small hummingbirds appeared and with a slight hum they began to glow as well as expanded in size. Deidara took aim and threw the birds down the corridor as hard as he could back towards the main part of the castle. The two boys watched as the little birds flew along the corridor before disappearing from their line of sight.

Moments later the explosions followed, alerting the rest of the castle to their location. Deidara took a moment to appreciate the small flashes from the explosions that would pop into their view.

"Ron and Harry are going to be so jealous when they hear about this," Deidara said, as he gave a wide grin to Kisame.

The mood was quickly broken by the loud thrashing that was taking place inside the room where Hermione and the troll were.

"Let's hope you still feel that way at the end of the night, kid." Kisame replied.

The two age reduced ninja made their way to the closed door and began pulling as hard as they could on the handle. As tough as the door was to shut, it seemed even more impossible to open even with their combined strength. The old castle was swollen with moisture and the wear of age. Deidara's hands were beginning to hurt and Kisame was growling from from intensity when the door finally gave way and sprang open.

The two partners barely had a chance to catch their breath before the sounds coming from inside forced them to rush in. Crossing into the bathroom, they were greeted with a shocking image. Hermione Granger, the smart and stubborn Gryffindor friend of Konan, was shrinking against the back wall in fright. She looked absolutely terrified at the bigger creature and there were signs that she had already been injured by the giant monster since she hadn't been able to escape the view of the steadily approaching troll.

The bathroom itself looked no better. It was almost as if a rampaging demon had gone right through it several times over. Entire stalls were collapsed, sinks were torn off the walls and water was flooding the entire room from the broken pipes that where littered throughout the floor. It was clear that Hermione had not always been huddling against the wall. Her hair and face seemed to be caked with debris and some blood while her normally pristine uniform was torn and disheveled.

Deidara quickly realized Hermione's attention wouldn't be drawn away from the terror in front of her and knew they'd have to split up. "Come on, kid. I've taken out _people _bigger than that!" Kisame growled as he leapt into battle, Deidara right on his heels.

"Hermione! Get out of here!" The girl looked over and was shocked to see Deidara and Kisame tackle the troll in a flurry of blows from Deidara's feet and Kisame's fists, actually managing to distract the troll. Hermione was still too weak to run, so she slumped further to the ground and stared at the troll which Kisame was shoving into the floor.

"Hermione, come on!" Deidara urged. She couldn't budge Hermione began to cry again, just when she thought she had no more tears. The fear induced adrenaline had left her and she was feeling the aches of her injuries. Deidara looked over at the troll and jumped onto its back as it shoved Kisame aside. He then very carefully shoved a concentrated clay bomb up the gray monster's nose. The troll went nuts from the invasive object and tried to clobber the blond on its head.

"Oh no, I don't think so, hm." Deidara growled, "I think its time that you learned the true meaning of _art_!"

Deidara smoothly leapt away from its head before he formed his hands into a seal and snarled_"Katsu!_"

The resulting mess was disgusting and strewn with troll snot. The teachers then came swarming in just as Deidara and Kisame assisted Hermione to her feet and she was finally was able to stand. Leading the way was Professor McGonagall followed quickly by Snape and Quirrell.

"What on earth were you thinking?" McGonagall burst out, clearly very angry indeed, while Snape examined the dead troll and Quirrell leaned against a wall clutching his chest. "You're lucky you weren't killed!"

Snape sent a swift, piercing look at Deidara who made a face at his least favorite professor.

"What on Earth were you thinking?" repeated Professor McGonagall. "Why were you not waiting in your dormitories with your fellow Gryffindors? Facing down a troll is dangerous business for any wizard, especially for inexperienced students! Why the three of you could have died!"

"Professor," squeaked Hermione Granger. Evidence of the girl's terrifying ordeal was plainly seen on her wet cheeks. "It's completely my fault. They were only looking for me."

In the many years that Professor McGonagall had been a teacher at Hogwarts not many students could claim in their time there that they had seen a shocked McGonagall. But on this Halloween night, three Gryffindor first year students had been witnesses to one such moments, it was just now at Hermione's response.

"Miss Granger!" exclaimed McGonagall, her unbelieving eyes rapidly searched the young girl's face for any sign of deceit.

"I was upset from earlier today," Hermione stated as clearly as she could. "I didn't even know there was a troll here but they saved me. If Deidara and Kisame hadn't come for me when they did, I'd be dead."

Their head of House looked upset at the news but sighed, "I'm very sorry that you had to go through what you did tonight. But you Mr. Hoshigaki and Mr. Bakuha did very well in watching after the well-being of your fellow classmate. That will be fifteen points each to Gryffindor. I suggest you both return to the common room and get cleaned up, the students are finishing the feast in their houses. I'll escort Ms. Granger to the Hospital Wing."

Professor McGonagall gently patted Hermione's shoulder before turning her attention towards Deidara, though she was speaking to both boys, "Mr. Bakuha and Mr. Hoshigaki," she said. "You two may very well be the luckiest first years I've ever met. It was foolhardy to have taken on a mountain troll, yet you two did and came out unscathed just don't do such foolish things again." and then in a rare moment of expression, she gave the two an approving smile before moving past.

"We'll take Hermione up to the Hospital Wing, Professor McGonagall," Deidara said, "If you don't mind, hm."

The Head of House nodded, secretly disappointed for a moment that Harry Potter had not even noticed Hermione was in danger while these two had. How could the savior of the wizarding world be so unaware? Hermione walked back to the Hospital Wing, leaning on Kisame and Deidara for support in silence.

"Ah, Hermione," Deidara said. Hermione looked at him. "I wanted to apologize. You know, for not defending you earlier, hm. Not from that troll but from Ron."

"Yeah," Kisame aggreed, "It was partly our fault that you got into this. I mean, I know Konan wouldn't befriend you if you didn't have at least a bit of potential and I regret that I missed that. If I wasn't being a thick headed crowd follower none of this would have happened."

Hermione looked at them strangely but smiled after a moment of consideration. "It wasn't because of you guys that I was crying in the bathroom in the first place. But thank you. You can just tell me about that spell you used to kill the troll, Deidara. Then we'll be even."

Deidara laughed nervously and said, "Hey, uh, let's just keep the actual _way_ I did that between the three of us, hm? If anyone asks it was a blasting hex up it's nose."

Hermione didn't look impressed, "I'll find out one day with or without your help, Deidara. You can be sure of that."

After their trollish adventure the three mismatched Gryffindors became like peas and carrots. The trio did everything together much to Ron and Harry's confusion. Who would guess that a blue quidditch fanatic and the Gryffindor House Seeker would be able to get along so well with such a brainy and bossy Gryffindor girl?

End Chapter Six

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On a roll, eh? Please review! 


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